4/29/2023 0 Comments Ypou have to burn the ropeIt could have been literally anything else, since it serves no purpose other than to give the player false hope in defeating the Grinning Colossus. This is used to represent the world around you rising as you make your descent into the battle against the Grinning Colossus, and therefore your descent into you hell.Ī piece of the game that seems out of place and indeed nonsensical is Bowler Hat's use of a battle axe as a weapon. It's an auditory illusion known as a Shepard tone ( ) in which frequencies are made to sound constantly rising in pitch when in actuality they are not. The music that plays takes an abrupt shift towards the creepy, playing eerie howling sounds that sound like they are constantly rising. If you play the game again after reading this, I recommend staying in this spot for a while. To kill him you have to burn the rope above" and "Have fun!". The most interesting use of the motif of descent in YHTBTR occurs just before entering the room where you have your battle, between the messages "3. This means that the game itself begins and ends with you falling, thus reiterating the cyclical nature of the task as well as the descent motif. Another time you fall in the game that should be noted is directly after completing your objective of burning the rope and defeating the Grinning Colossus. This is not explained by the game in any way, and really doesn't have a point unless you consider it a reference to falling into hell. You begin the game by falling down a shaft. "Descent" or "descending" is another motif that is present in YHTBTR that lends itself to the idea of the game being part of hell, or perhaps part of a descent into madness. The fact that lynching is another kind of torture involving a rope should be noted as well. This is especially so in the Grinning Colossus' death animation. When looking at the Grinning Colossus, you can see these characteristics (black body, bulging eyes, twisted mouth in agony) showing through almost exactly as they are described. Billie Holiday's infamous Strange Fruit, a song about lynching African Americans in the South, includes these lines: "Black bodies swinging in the Southern breeze / Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees / Pastoral scene of the gallant South / The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth" ( ) I'd rather not include a picture, so this description will have to do. Another possible interpretation of the Grinning Colossus' appearance can be representative of the victim of a lynching. You can try to kill it with your weapons, but even if you do somehow manage to get it down to 0 health it still survives (which can be done via a hack seen here: ), which is another Sisyphean torture in itself. If you look at its expression closely, it doesn't look like the Grinning Colossus is grinning at all, but rather like it's constantly screaming out in agony (driving home the torture theme). In any other context, it would make a good monster in a typical creepypasta. It is a giant, pitch-black mass with only a mouth and bulging eyes that can't be killed by your weapons. Lord knows it wouldn’t be the first time.The main enemy of YHTBTR (and the only other character present) is called the Grinning Colossus. Why can’t it just be a neat idea presented in as much time as it needs? Why must there be discussion on what its length means, as opposed to just taking the creator’s word that they didn’t feel like making anything longer?Įnjoy as this gets beaten and ground into the concrete, and every semblance of humor or intrigue goes away. Congratulations you won.īut I am quite prepared for a deluge of analysis about how this is a critique of game design. I see a game that says “why the fuck do these measly weapons ever hurt these giant boss creatures? Why not just drop a chandelier on its fucking head? That will kill almost anything!” And so that is what the game does. Sure we could do without the creators and their friends trying to be so cute and clever, but the fact that we will likely see 50 or so similar guides from people who also wish to be cute and clever is even sadder.Īnd what, exactly, is the message behind the game? You tell me. Is it stupid? Hell yes, as stupid as it is that so many other games are treated as such. Why are there video walkthroughs and FAQs and speedruns? Because every game, no matter how big or small, seems to attract this kind of attention and scrutiny. It is an incredibly simple, completely straightforward 30 second boss fight. What I mean is that there is really nothing to understand about it. I’m not sure how this sits with me, because I’m not sure people understand the game. By now you might have heard of You Have to Burn the Rope, the flash game which will become a new phenomenon for some time to come (though likely nowhere near the likes of Portal).
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